Comments on: What are the most comfortable contact lenses in the world?

Question: What are the most comfortable contact lenses in the world?

snoogles — Wed, 16 Jan 2013 14:49:20 -0800

Save me from my glasses! I'd like to find the perfect contacts.

I used to wear the Day and Night contact lenses. I could wear them for an entire week without taking them out (ophthalmologist-approved) and only needed to put in a bit of solution in the morning to be perfectly comfortable. For some reason, the company changed the formulation to make them more comfortable, and I can no longer tolerate them.

I've tried a few brands since then (including Specsavers own brand and a few others I can't remember) but I haven't found any that I can tolerate for more than 8 hours a time, or for more than a few days in a row. I'm getting tired of always wearing my glasses, so my New Year's resolution is to find my new perfect contacts!

Could you suggest a few brands that you've found particularly comfortable? Or eyedrops that have worked magic?

PS: I will definitely get LASIK as soon as possible, but my eyes haven't stabilized yet.

By: payoto

payoto — Wed, 16 Jan 2013 14:54:08 -0800

If you can tolerate lenses at night, have you looked into Ortho-K?

By: artemisia

artemisia — Wed, 16 Jan 2013 14:55:06 -0800

I have severe astigmatism, so my answer may not be helpful. But I went through reams of trial pairs before I finally settled on Acuvue Oasys for Astigmatism. When soaked in ClearCare every night, they are wondrously comfortable - I really forget they're in my eyes. (Because of this, I accidentally slept in them once.) A friend with the regular old Acuvue Oasys lenses (i.e., not for astigmatism) also sings their praises.

ETA - Eye drops: my eyes can be quite dry. Doc recommended Refresh Tears to me. Awesome stuff. Quite cheap when you buy it in bulk at Costco, too.

By: geegollygosh

geegollygosh — Wed, 16 Jan 2013 15:01:03 -0800

I spent a lot of time looking for the perfect contacts, but the thing that has had the most effect is switching to Clear Care solution. I have Oasys lenses, which are better than whatever I had before, but not remarkably better.

By: jeather

jeather — Wed, 16 Jan 2013 15:02:20 -0800

I second the Acuvue Oasys, which work in my super sensitive eyes. (I have one for astigmatism and one for not -- the latter is my more sensitive eye.)

I didn't find Clear Care actually made a difference for me, though it did for other people.

Note that I don't wear my lenses at night ever.

By: TheAdamist

TheAdamist — Wed, 16 Jan 2013 15:03:03 -0800

Thirding Acuvue Oasys + Clear Care.

Clear care is a hydrogen peroxide based cleaning solution, so you really have to let it sit for the hours it calls for, or you'll sting your eyes. But it cleans much better than anything else i've used. Plus while bubbling away it looks cool.

By: Nattie

Nattie — Wed, 16 Jan 2013 15:06:42 -0800

I use Acuvue Oasis with Biotrue solution and have had no problems.

By: The corpse in the library

The corpse in the library — Wed, 16 Jan 2013 15:07:28 -0800

Do they need to be extended wear? Because I 've worn many, many kinds of contacts, both hard and soft, and the best ones I've found are Focus Dailies.

By: thesocietyfor

thesocietyfor — Wed, 16 Jan 2013 15:07:57 -0800

I used to wear and love the Day & Night contact lenses, too! Oh, I mourn for them but they stopped working for me, too.

I also used to like the Acuvue Oasys (both before and after they reformulated them) but then suddenly they started to dry out—probably because I moved to Phoenix, which is, you know, very hot and dry and dusty. It's a hell for contact lenses.

Now I wear daily contact lenses, which I always thought were a total extravagance. But I stretch mine out by wearing them 2-3 days in a row and I'm finally back to being able to wear my contacts all day. The only downside is that you can't sleep in them (or at least I can't), I can tolerate a nap but they do dry out. The brand I wear (after trying four different kinds at my very awesome optometrists direction) is the Acuvue TruEye.

Apparently this The Best kind as far as letting oxygen get to your eye, which I like because I wear my contacts all the time and I worry about ruining them because of it. I got a sorta go for it from my optometrist to wear them for more than a day (she said they'd be more prone to rip but as long as I still disinfected them nothing terrible would happen, but she urged me to wear my glasses at least one day a week to give my eyes a break).

By: thesocietyfor

thesocietyfor — Wed, 16 Jan 2013 15:10:58 -0800

Oh, and I really love these eye drops, when my Oasys starting to annoy me I tried every kind I could find at Walgreens and these are the only ones who do anything for me.

Another trick I use (since I wear a lot of mascara and sometimes at the end of the day I think it migrates into my eye) is to fill up one side of my lenses case with saline solution and then place my eye down into it and blink a few times to clear out my eye. It's super refreshing for any reason actually. In the eye care section you'll sometimes see cups designed for this purpose but the lenses case works great for me.

By: mgrrl

mgrrl — Wed, 16 Jan 2013 15:17:22 -0800

I wear a very comfortable-for-me bandage contact lens for pain relief - it's called ProClear in the UK. I wear each one continuously for about a month. I use liquifilm drops for moistness. Good luck!

By: Tequila Mockingbird

Tequila Mockingbird — Wed, 16 Jan 2013 15:21:12 -0800

Another vote for Acuvue Oasys + Clear Care. The regular contact solution didn't clean as well as Clear Care, which I found previously recommended on AskMe. Definitely worth buying if you're wearing your contacts for a long time.

By: Diagonalize

Diagonalize — Wed, 16 Jan 2013 15:27:38 -0800

Yet one more vote for Acuvue Oasys and Clear Care. Clear Care made a noticeable difference for me, but if you go the Clear Care route, do not forget to also get extra saline for rinsing, just in case. I only made that mistake once; I shall not make it again. Fresh Clear Care + eyeball = BURNING DOOM!

By: gjc

gjc — Wed, 16 Jan 2013 15:28:07 -0800

I wear biomedics 55 (or whatever they are called now). They are super comfortable.

One thing to look for is proper fit. That's going to make more difference than anything, since soft contacts are pretty much made of the same stuff.

By: barnoley

barnoley — Wed, 16 Jan 2013 17:03:25 -0800

Wow, just joining the chorus recommending Acuvue Oasys + Clear Care. Using Clear Care, I can comfortably wear a pair of contacts 12+ hours a day for an entire month.

By: UniversityNomad

UniversityNomad — Wed, 16 Jan 2013 20:10:51 -0800

Nthing Acuvue Oasys plus Clear Care cleansing solution!

I used to wear the Air Optix Ciba Night and Day (the ones you mentioned), but when I found out they don't have UV protection, I switched to Acuvue, which does (I have pale eyes, so they're prone to sun damage, like pale skin). I tried out a few different kinds of Acuvue (including Advance), and decided upon Acuvue Oasys. They're super comfortable - I forget I have them on, often wear them for more than 12 hours a day, and have slept multiple nights in them when I was traveling and couldn't sanitize my hands to take them out/put them in. My eye doctor said that's okay in a pinch (I think they're oxygen permeable, which means they let more air in than normal contacts, so you're supposedly allowed to wear them extendedly?). Clear Care was recommended to me by my eye doctor after I got a nasty eye infection from regular contact solution: my understanding is that it has peroxide rather than enzymes, which makes for a much more thorough clean. I actually wear my contact lenses for more weeks than they recommend (because I have no money, so need to stretch out the wear time), and my eye doctor checked protein deposits on them (?) after that period of time and said they looked surprisingly clean. Would *definitely* recommend!

By: vasi

vasi — Wed, 16 Jan 2013 21:09:04 -0800

Seconding trying dailies. My eyes feel so much better since I switched from extended wear.

By: Pax

Pax — Thu, 17 Jan 2013 09:29:27 -0800

Thirding dailies. I have some eye problems that make contacts difficult and my dailies have solved that.

By: snoogles

snoogles — Thu, 17 Jan 2013 09:48:38 -0800

Wow, I was not expecting a consensus! I will order some Acuvue Oasys and some ClearCare right now.

If they don't work out, I'll try dailies. Thank you everyone!